Old Antics
by Sprak
Summary: This starts directly after chapter 322, so there are many spoilers throughout the story if you have not been current with the chapters.
1. Training

Kakashi stood next to Yamato, in between the various charka eating pillars, as the Anbu Captain Continued to stick his palm out, controling the Kyuubi's power.

"Mass Kage Bunshin really does wear him out fast" Kakashi said, hundreds of Bunshins Lying down on the ground, all panting. Naruto continued to try fusing the wind element chakra into the Rasengan, and after this attempt, failed, and all the Bunshins were sent flying into the air.

Meanwhile, in the bushes, Hinata sat behind a tree, using her Byakugan to observe her crush, all at the same time, asking herself what he was doing. She Had been doing this a lot lately to observe Naruto, and was getting tired, so turned off her Byakugan, and turned around and poked her head out from the tree. As Naruto attempted once again to complete the technique, one of his unoccupied clones had turned around, and saw Hinata. Hinata didn't notice, and right before the clone could say anything, all of the copies had been released, causing all their collective knowledge to flood back into Naruto's mind, causing him to pass out, only after all the pillars had returned to their normal state. As Hinata saw Naruto collapse, she began to move through the trees towards him, but stopped, remembering she wasn't supposed to be here. Kakashi heard some bushes move, and looked that way with his normal eye, but didn't do anything, figuring he would tend to it later. He rushed over to Naruto, and looked at the boy.

"This isn't going as I had hoped... He needs someone to help him with his self esteem, because every time he fails, he looses confidence..." Kakashi said, Picking up Naruto and Carrying him over to where Naruto usually slept, placing him down. Yamato Had stood up and walked over to Kakashi, agreeing with him about Naruto's Self esteem problem. Kakashi noticed a young women run from her hiding spot, and had an idea.

"Yamato," Kakashi said, writing something down on a piece of paper and handing it to him, "In order to solve this problem we need a certain Hyuuga Heiress, So I need you to deliver this to Hyuuga Neji immediately."

Yamato took the note and read it, then responded with a smile. "So I get a break tonight I guess?" Yamato said, disappearing with a poof of smoke.

A few hours later, Naruto finally came to, And it was about sundown when he did. Kakashi had left him a note saying to make his way to the ramen shop and get his 5 paid for ramen bowls from Ayame, which Kakashi had paid for, and to be there an hour after sundown. Naruto Wondered to himself what it could be about, but didn't really care, because it was free ramen. Thus, an hour after Sundown, Naruto was outside the ramen shop, when he saw someone sitting next to his usual seat, wearing a tan sweatshirt and black pants.


	2. Your late

Naruto removed the banner out of his way to enter the ramen stand, and sat in his seat, with one seat in between him and the person already there. He made a small hello to the person in the Tan sweatshirt, who had their hood up, and didn't even get a response. Naruto waved to Ayame's father, wondering where she was. By the time he had eaten his 5th bowl of ramen, Ayame had come out of hiding from the back, and seemed a bit out of breath, and on top of that, she was smiling like crazy, and red in the face a small amount. As soon as she appeared, Kakashi had sat between Naruto and the hooded person, and after Naruto yelling at Kakashi, Kakashi just smiled, and Ayame smiled back.

"Naruto, The reason I called you here was because you seem to be loosing confidence. I want you to go to the training grounds and I want you to explore. don't go alone, its dangerous alone." He said, standing up and disappearing before Naruto could make any real complaint. Shortly after he had left, so did Ayame, and Naruto was kicked out of the stand along with the person with the hood on. He finally got tired of waiting for them to speak, so Naruto walked over to the person and tapped them on the shoulder.

"Hello, umm... I noticed you in the ramen shop, and I was wondering just who exactly you were, because I don't..." Naruto stopped short when the girl turned and removed her hood.

"Hinata!? Why did you say anything?" Naruto asked, Hinata turning red.

"Well, I.. Uh..." She responded poking her fingers together.

"Wait," Naruto said quickly," why were you here anyway?" he asked, scratching behind his head.

"Neji.. he uh... I got thi-this note-e a-and I was t-told t-to come here... and I uh..." she stuttered.

"Oh I see..." He said, oblivious to her blushing as usual. "Oi, Hinata! I was wondering, If your not busy, If you would like to go with me tot he training grounds, I was told to bring someone, and I think it might be fun." He said, with his natural smile.

Hinata stuttered a bit, but then finally agreed. As Hinata and Naruto walked towards the grounds, Hinata was a constant red in the face, and Naruto just looked at the stars as they walked.

"Hinata.." He started out saying, "Do you watch the stars in your free time?" He asked, Hinata changing her view from Naruto to the stars for the first time since they left the ramen stand.

"Sometimes I do..but-t, nott a-all the t-time..." She stuttered. Naruto Looked back at Hinata, and saw an incredible sight. He looked at Hinata's opal eyes, that had begun to shine due to the full moon's light, and twinkled and sparkled as the stars reflected off of her big white eyes. When Hinata noticed Naruto looking at her, she quickly turned away, he hair flinging around a bit, making a more beautiful sight as her lavender hair sparkled a bit, Naruto finally snapping back into reality.

"Shes so beautiful... Why haven't I noticed this before...?" Naruto thought to himself, snapping back his head to look straight ahead, turning a little red in the face.

"Hey look were here!" Naruto said, after a few more minutes of walking. They had made it to the training grounds, and up in front of them was a giant waterfall, which had created a large lake basin below it.


	3. Ngah?

After arriving at the waterfall, Hinata asked Naruto a question, which was intriguing to him.

"Nar... Naruto-kun? Umm... what exactly, I mean... is up th..there?" She stuttered, pointing up over the waterfall.

"Hmm... I never bothered to find out... Come on Hinata-chan!" He said, grabbing her by the wrist and pulling her towards the rocks near the basin. She was turning red, but didn't care, because she was with Naruto. He smiled, and he focused chakra into his feet, and began to run up the rocks. Hinata did the same, and followed after him, trailing by about 5 or so feet. About 3/4ths the way up, Naruto placed his foot on an unsteady rock.

"Huh?" Naruto said, and then he yelled a bit as he lost his footing, and a few rocks fell out from under his foot. He caught himself, but he had a bigger problem.

"NARUTO-KUN!!" Hinata screamed as she lost her footing when the rocks hit her.

"HINATA-CHAN!" Naruto screamed, jumping after her. They had fallen at about 70 feet up, and at about 20 feet down, Naruto managed to grab hold of Hinata, and he pulled her close.

'He's trying to save me, he risked his life to try and save me...' Hinata thought to herself as Naruto wrapped his arms around her waist and made it so his back slammed into he water, and she didn't get hurt. The splash kicked up a lot of water, and Naruto and Hinata were soaked. When Hinata was released from Naruto's grasp, she realized something. He wasn't moving.

"Naruto-kun!" she yelped, grabbing a hold of him and pulling him to the shore. She began to press on his stomach, but nothing.

"No, don't die, please..." She said, and he still didn't breathe, even after she pounded on his chest. After a few seconds, she bent down to put her mouth on his, and pushed on his chest as she leaned inward to give him CPR. The amount of pressure she placed on him caused the water to push gently into his mouth, not spit it up, but make him breathe again. He opened his eyes, and only about an inch away was Hinata-chan, with her eyes closed.

"Hina..."he was cut short as their lips made contact.


	4. It was you?

She didn't give him air, because she had heard him speak right before she locked their lips together. She could feel herself getting more and more red, and yet she was happy. After a second, Hinata broke the kiss and turned a bright neon red. She didn't faint, but began to cry, and stood up and ran towards the waterfall, where she scaled it with great speed and ran off over the the cliff, out of sight.

"Hinata!" Naruto screamed after her, trying to get her to come back.

Hinata was out of range for her to hear him, and she was running really fast away from her crush. 'Baka!! Why did I do that, WHY!? This is so embarrassing... where do I go?!' Hinata thought to herself, running further and further into the forest after making it over the raised plateau that Yamato had made. After a good 20 minutes, Naruto couldn't find Hinata, yet kept looking. Eventually, the moon came out completely, and Hinata was staring at it from he hiding spot next to a small waterfall. The moonlight glistened off the surface of the soothing water, and she eventually began to practice on the water. It was getting late, and Hinata had assumed Naruto had gone home. She took off her shoes and her sweatshirt and kept practicing. At around 1AM, Naruto caught her trail. He managed to follow it deep into the forest, where he came across a large stream. He followed the stream and eventually came across the waterfall and the large basin. He was about to leave when he saw a girl, like had seen 3 years ago on a mission for the Bicouchou bug, moving across the water. He stopped and watched, amazed to see the girl again. This time it was different though... as she turned, the moonlight shone off of her face.

"Is that... no... wait... That is! THAT WAS HINATA!? He thought to himself, dumbfounded.

"It, it was you... wasn't it?" Naruto stepped out of the bushes to reveal himself to Hinata.

The only sound Hinata managed to release was a small "eep!" Afterwards she lost her balance and began to fall, but was caught by a blond boy, which was the only thign she could remember as she lost consciousness.


	5. AsumaSensei

The opal eyed girl opened her eyes and looked around, only seeing the forest's trees, and then saw a small fire as she sat up. She didn't realize it at first, but then noticed that Naruto's jacket was on her, keeping her warm. Then she remembered what had happened, and began to look around frantically. "Oh no! Where is he!? What am I going to say!?" Was the only set of thoughts running through her mind. A few seconds later, a boyish voice startled her from behind.

"Hinata, you ok?" Naruto said, causing another meep and startled jump from Hinata.

"Naruto-kun...I ... I'm sorry about... I'm..." Was all she managed to stutter before Naruto cut her off with an odd sentence.

"Hinata... I wanted to ask you... I know this is weird... but I noticed when I returned, you were petrified to see me... and I... well, are you afraid of me?" Naruto said, staring at the trees, scratching the back of his head in a nervous way.

"Naruto-kun... I'm... no... I'm not... I just" Hinata half mumbled, half whispered, as her face began to become more and more red.

"I.. I stutter because... because well... I..." She was cut off as she heard rustling nearby. Naruto whirled around and readied a kunai.

"Who's there!?" Naruto shouted, and Shikamaru, battle worn, steeped out of the trees, Asuma on his back.

"Notify the village, Asuma, Asuma is dead."


	6. Black Roses

"Asuma gave his life for us. No matter how troublesome his smoking became, or how many bets he made with me on who would pay for Chouji's dinner, Asuma was always there. He helped us all in different ways, he gave us hope. He was a great ninja, a great teacher, and an even better friend. We will never forget Sarutobi-Asuma, and he will always be here with us, for the rest of our lives." Nara Shikamaru then returned to his place among his teammates, who among the rest of the village, stood in the cold pouring rain to pay a tribute to a hero. As Tsunade-sama said a few things to the group, people began to go to the coffin and place flowers onto his casket. Ino was crying into Chouji's shoulder as they went up, and she placed her flower onto his coffin as did everyone, and Chouji placed his as well. The last was the Nara boy. He walked up to the coffin, wearing all black, as everyone was, and he carefully placed a pack of cigarettes and a shougi piece on the coffin.

"Arigato, Asuma-sensei" Were his thoughts as he turned and followed the procession out of the funeral area.

Shikamaru ignored his friend's requests to come with them to Chouji's and made his way to his hill. Tears had been flowing down his cheeks all day, and thanks to the rain, no one could see them, well she could see, but no one else. As Shikamaru lied down on the wet ground, he had his eyes closed, but occasionally looked up at the rainclouds that were unleashing millions of droplets upon Konoha.

"I'm sorry" Said a soft voice under a tree nearby. She was wearing all black, like everyone had, and behind her stood Gaara and Kankuro, both dressed in black.

Shikamaru ignored her, and continued to lie down int eh rain. Gaara and Kankuro walked out into the field and stood above him, and Shikamaru became confused.

Kankuro bent down and grabbed Shikamaru by the collar and tossed him out of the rain, landing right next to Temari, who was sitting on the dry grass under the large tree. Kankuro and Gaara took their leave, and Shikamaru didn't even argue about what the puppet boy had done. Shikamaru looked at the girl, and then back at the village.

"It will all be ok Nara, Don't worry about it, good things will happen, so don't worry." Temari said with a small smile.

"Nothing can happen good now" Shikamaru began to say, but was cut off by a hard slap to the face.

"Don't ever say that again" Temari said, then grabbed him by the shoulder and lifted him off the ground.

"I'm going home." He said, before she could say anything, and he disappeared, leaving the only one who wanted to show affection towards him out in the rain.

Shikamaru stepped into his empty house, and took off his black shirt and threw it onto the couch. He grabbed a towel and dried off. he Made his way upstairs, and tried turning on the light, surprise surprise, the power was out. He went into his room and changed into his normal pants, but didn't put on a shirt.

"What am I going to do now?" He thought to himself, as he sat on his bed and ran his fingers through his hair a few times. Then he stood up, opening the curtains to his sliding glass door, which led out to his patio.

What he saw next surprised him. A large fan was open on someone's back, directing all the rain off of the person. The fan was black, with he outline of three black roses on it. The fan closed, revealing a blond haired konoichi sitting on the ledge of his balcony.

Shikamaru slid open the door, and stepped outside.

"I'm not discouraged so easily you sexist jerk," Temari stated, swinging her feet over the ledge and onto the patio, "Now come here." She said, grabbing him by his collar and kissing him. the rain continued to fall at an increasing rate, and no matter how many times he wished for the kiss to end, he always wanted more.


	7. Flood

Naruto walked through Konoha, depressed. Since the funeral he had been moping, and he had become angry. He wanted to go and train his new Jutsu, but he had been forbidden to do so by Tsunade and Kakashi. He began to look for Kakashi, but couldn't find him. It had begun to rain, and he wanted to catch up to Shikamaru, but he had already disappeared to god knows where. Naruto walked to the ramen stand and ordered some ramen, and Temari ran by, and stopped next to him.

"Do you know where that sexist jerk is?" She said.

"Shikamaru?" He said, wondering. "No, I haven't seen him, but he lives four blocks down and twelve blocks right from here, his house is the one with the balcony and it's dark gray, right on the corner next to the market." Naruto explained.

"Thanks" She said, running off towards his house.

"I wonder what that was about?" he thought to himself, and just went back to eating his ramen.

Hinata watched Naruto from a bush nearby, out of the rain under a tree. She eventually gathered up the courage to get out of the bush and walk up to him in the stand.

"Na… Naruto..?" She stuttered.

"Hinata?" he said, turning to her with a smile.

"Can I talk to you in private?" She said quickly, so she wouldn't stutter.

"Sure Hinata!" He said, paying for the ramen, and getting off the chair. "Where do you want to talk? It's raining pretty hard…" He said.

"I... I'm not really… uh… sure…" She stuttered once again.

"I got an idea! My place is right around the corner!" He said with a smile, grabbing her arm and pulling the now stoplight colored red Hinata towards his house.

As they walked up to the door, he opened it with the key and walked inside. The Lights were on, and he took off his black jacket and threw it on his armchair.

"Would you like to have a seat?" He motioned towards the couch.

"Th... Thank you…" She said, sitting on the far end of the couch away form Naruto, who had sat down in his armchair and moved his jacket to the coffee table.

"You wanted to talk about something?" He said

"I uh… Yes… um… Truth is… I-I" She stuttered slowly.

"You what?" He said.

"I l-Lo" She said, but then the power went out and a loud clap of thunder roared outside, emitting a shriek from Hinata, who then lept up into the air, closing the 5 feet between her and Naruto, and she clasped onto his chest. At first she had been petrified by the thunder, but eventually she realized what she was doing, and began to jump off of him.

"Gomen ne sai!! Gomen!" She screamed at him turning such a deep red she looked like a red crayon. She said this while she was jumping off of Naruto's lap, but he had begun tired of her running from him.

"No…" He said, wrapping his arms around her waist, keeping her close. Just then, another clap of thunder, this time accompanied with lightning, caused her to squeal again and curl up on his lap more.

"You're afraid of lightning?" He said a small smile on his face, his arms wrapped around the Hyuuga.

Hinata looked up at him with her stark red face and nodded slightly.

"Here, getup" He said, lifting her up out of the chair as he stood up. She had clasped onto his arm, more afraid of the thunder then him. He walked over to the window and looked outside. The streets had flooded, and now she was stuck here.

"Looks like your going to have to spend the night here" He said to Hinata, who then went from red to white in less then two seconds, and she passed out.


	8. The Wind's Shadow

Shikamaru awoke; a blond haired Konouichi snuggled under his right arm, and wrapped up in the sheets. He slipped out of her warm embrace and she curled up as he stood up out of the bed, and then she grabbed a pillow and held it close.

Shikamaru just smiled a bit at Temari, and he stood up in the middle of his room, ad put on his jeans. It had stopped raining, and the moon had come out. He opened the sliding door, and he stood out on the balcony, looking up at the full moon. His shadow was cast behind him from the moonlight, and then he looked down below him, where he saw a familiar face. Chouji stood there, wearing all black like he had at the funeral and Ino beside him, in the same attire. A tear began to slide down Shikamaru's face, and Chouji just nodded once, and then tossed a scroll up to him.

Catching the small scroll, Shikamaru opened it up and read it.

"Dear Shikamaru,

You are receiving this because of my funeral. I've always trusted you as a teammate, student, and most of all a friend. Because of this, I would like you to go visit Kurenai the night of my funeral, think of it as a token of our friendship.

Good luck,

Sarotobi Asuma."

Two tears fell on the scroll, making two small pats, and then he closed the scroll up, and walked inside his room, and Ino and Chouji then went on their way. He placed the scroll on the dresser next to his bed where Temari slept, and he put on his black shirt once again, and then walked downstairs, where he grabbed his shoes and his Chuunin jacket, and stepped outside, closing the door behind him silently.

"Come in Shikamaru", Kurenai said, letting the pineapple head in. "I guess you got his note, come with me." Kurenai said, a tear welling up in her eyes. She looked like she had been crying all day. She made her way into Asuma and her bedroom, and opened a drawer on the right side of the bed, and pulled out an ornate stone box. She then pulled out his two chakra blades, and handed them to Shikamaru.

"He wanted you to have those, use them well" She said, walking past Shikamaru and into the foyer, then to the living room. Shikamaru followed her, and then before he left he stopped at the door, and then said, "Thank you, Kurenai sensei… I want you to know, that his death won't be in vain…" And then he left, leaving Kurenai with her mouth open, and when she opened the door running after him, he was gone.

As Shikamaru made it to the gate, he was met by Ino and Chouji, and they were stopped Tsunade. Tsunade was for a lack of better words, pissed off. The Trio tried to leave, and she wouldn't let them. Kakashi then intervened and Tsunade reconsidered, and assigned him to Shikamaru's team as the Jounin leader for a mission that later on in Konoha, would be called the Wind's Shadow mission.

"There's no turning back now" Chouji said Ino next to him, and Shikamaru kneeling to his left.

"Lets go" Kakashi said, Shikamaru nodding, and the four Nins left the gates of Konoha behind them.


	9. Stormy Night

Hinata was awakened by a loud clash of thunder, which caused her to leap out of her comfortable spot on Naruto's couch. It was dark, and she couldn't see, so she engaged her Byakugan. She looked around, and quickly found Naruto nearby, leaving his room and coming this way. He had taken off his shirt and was wearing only his black and orange pants, which he found more comfortable then his previous attire. Hinata blushed at the sight of his bare chest, which turned out to be pretty fit. She quickly made herself to look asleep, and Naruto walked over to her, and then over to his armchair where he sat down and watched her sleep.

"If only you knew…" He whispered to himself, which Hinata caught and caused her to think, but not for long. Another clash of thunder startled her and caused her to jump up.

"I see your awake now." He said, under the belief she had just woken up.

"Hai…" She said shyly. "What did he mean 'If only I knew'?" She thought to herself, gripping onto the blanket tightly.

"Naruto-kun?" She said quickly and quietly.

"Hrm?" He said, wondering what she was going to say.

"Wh... what time is it?" She said, shying under the blanket.

'Oh… Its about midnight, why do you ask?" He said questioning.

"Come on Hinata! You can do this. Your alone in HIS house, ALONE, there's no one here! Just HIM and YOU, tell him! He obviously likes you somewhat; I mean your staying at his house for crying out loud! But what if he doesn't like me like that? You'll never know if you don't try!" She battled with herself on the inside.

"Hina-" he started, but was cut of by another boom of thunder, and a scared shit-less Hyuuga jumping into his arms.

She couldn't help herself, she was scared, and her only response to keeping him from seeing her turn red was by nuzzling her head deep into his bare chest, making her redder.

"I'm sorry … Naruto-kun…. I-I just…. I-I'm afraid and-and….." She stuttered like mad.

"It's ok Hinata-chan. I'm going to sleep out here with you, so it's ok. I'll be in the chair and you can be in the couch, its fine." He said soothingly, feeling her face become hot against his chest. Then he felt something cool and wet sliding down his chest.

"Hinata-chan? Are you…?" he started to say.

"Kurenai sensei is so depressed… I'm scared Naruto-kun… I'm sorry for all of this… Ill leave, you don't need a weakling like me around right now, I'm sorry" She said, getting up off of his lap, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Hinata…" He said, watching her getting on her shoes.

"Arigato Naruto-kun" She said, reaching for the door handle and opening it up. "Bye..." She said, walking outside under the awning, before she felt a warm hand on her wrist, causing her to emit a small peep.

"Don't be sorry… just don't leave" He said, his own eyes tearing up. He pulled her inside and hugged her, startling her. She didn't know what to do, but the weather decided for her, scaring her into grasping on to him harder.

"Don't leave. Please don't leave..." He said, a tear falling to her jacket. She shut the door with her foot, and nodded into his bare shoulder.

Summoning all the courage she had, knowing that this was her perfect chance to tell him, she managed to say something to steer him towards the bed room, because she always felt more comfortable telling people things in a place where she knew that no one could get in, and it was the only room that had a door that wasn't connected to the rest of the house.

"The couch…. It's uncomfortable…" She said quickly and quietly, turning a bright red in the dark.

"Oh…" He said, taking her to the bed room, and guiding her to the bed in the dark, and letting her lie down.

"Thank you Naruto-kun..." she said, red as ever at this point. She hadn't planned on anything like this, and she was quite scared, but then immediately confused, because Naruto had just grabbed a pillow and blanket and tossed them on the floor, and then lied down next to the bed, on the floor.

"Naruto… kun?" She said, rolling over to the side of the bed where he was sleeping on the floor, and looking over to see him smiling back at her.

"It would be awkward no? Besides, your family wouldn't approve." He said.

"Good night Hinata, if you need anything I'm right here." He said, rolling over to face away from the bed, and falling asleep.

"Good night…." She said disappointed. She took off her jacket and then slipped under the covers, her eyes welling up. But then she looked on the bright side, I mean, she was sleeping in the same room as him? Not only that, but he was worried about getting her in trouble too… Soon these thoughts drifted off into her sleep, and later on the night, she heard something that not only woke her, but caught her off guard.

When she woke up, it was still pitch black, she had only been asleep for about an hour, and she heard some mumbling to her left, where Naruto was. She silently slipped over to that side of the bed and listen to him closely.

"Hinata……" He mumbled.

"!?" She thought, intrigued.

"I lov…. Mumble mumble…." He said quietly, holding onto his pillow like it was a person.

"No… It can't be" She thought. Then she got an idea.

She leaned over to the sleeping boy, and then whispered in his ear:

"How do you feel about me?"

After a few minutes there was no response. She went back sad, and sat in the bed.

"I married you didn't I? Of course I love you Hinata…." He said, hugging the pillow tightly and kissing it once.

Wide eyed and stunned, she slowly turned her head to Naruto, and stared at him, and then gulped. She then scooted over towards him, and figured he was asleep, and whispered to herself:

"I love you too…"

She then got no response from the boy, and then leaned back into his bed, and was content with herself, because now she had reason to believe that he felt the same way she did. As she began to drift off into her sleep, she heard a poof, and looked over at where Naruto had been. Smoke rose up from the bed sheets, and she turned her head to see Naruto sitting on the balcony rail outside the sliding glass door, under the awning, looking in with a smile. He opened up the sliding door, and he shut it silently behind him. He wasn't wearing a shirt, and he made his way over to the bed, and sat on the edge of it.

"Is that how you really feel?" He said, smiling at her sheepishly and nervous.

Hinata could only give a small nod, and hide her face under the covers so he could only see her pearl eyes.

"Mind if I sleep on the bed tonight?" He said, lying down next to her above the covers.

Hinata pulled the covers out from under him and pushed them over him, making it apparent that she had wanted him to do that from the beginning. As Naruto lay next to her, another flash of lighting came and Hinata instinct grabbed onto him, not caring that she was red. The two of them drifted off into a deep deep sleep, holding onto each other tightly.

As the sun rose into the room, the light slowly woke Naruto, who found Hinata lying half way on his body, her arm around his neck. As Naruto turned his head he looked out the sliding glass door, the light shone in brightly, it had stopped raining. Looking back at Hinata's sleeping silhouette that was outlined on the sheets, and he followed her outline from her legs up to her thin stomach, stopping at each curve, and up to her beautiful face. He became entranced, and he just stared at her beautiful face for what seemed like an eternity.

Hinata awoke in bed, but not where she had fallen asleep. She was alone in the bed, Naruto was gone. She sat up and looked around but didn't see him anywhere. As she got out of her bed, she walked through his house, and found a note. Its said he went to go train with Yamato, like he always did, and that there was some ramen in the cupboard if she wanted anyone, and that he would talk to her later. Hinata knew something was wrong, but she just didn't know what it was.


	10. Hero

Naruto stepped into his apartment, dirty, tired, and exhausted. He took off his shirt and his pants, and got into the shower. It had been awhile since he had been in the shower, and he was completely drained. That fight had almost killed him, he was lucky he was standing at this point. He cleaned the dirt off of his body and cleaned up his cuts and such, all without noticing Hinata slipping into the apartment behind him. She had hidden herself behind the couch as he got into the shower, and when she realized what he was doing, thought that she might want to join him. She took off her jacket and headband, and engaged her Byakugan to find out exactly what he was doing.

"Oh… my…" She thought to herself. "Its larger then I…" She began to think, looking where she shouldn't have been, when she noticed something. Naruto had cuts all along his chest and back, and they were fresh. He went to clean one, and he let out a yelp of pain as the soap touched his bloody flesh. The Kyuubi had begun to make them heal, and Naruto was lucky he had, or he might not have survived. Seconds later Naruto stepped out of the shower, and put on his boxers.

Hinata snapped back into reality. "Oh no! What am I going to do!?" She thought panicking, running into his bedroom, and moving straight towards the sliding glass door. When she tried to open it, it wouldn't budge. Apparently a chair from outside had lodged it shut.

"SHIT!! If he catches me looking at him and sneaking into his house he will never speak to me again!!" She thought.

Tap… Tap… Tap… Was heard as Naruto walked down the hallway and into his bedroom, turning to the glass door, and gazing out at the setting sun.

"So… tired…" He said, yawning and putting on his new pair of pants. "I wonder where Hinata is right now." He said to himself, a blush coming across Hinata's face as she stuck to the ceiling about ten inches above his head. Naruto walked over to the bed and got in, and went to sleep quickly.

As soon as she was sure he was asleep, she lowered herself gently to the ground, and began to slowly creep out the door, trying to be silent. As Hinata shut the door it made a small creaking noise, and then it clicked shut. She was in the clear, and all she had to do was get her headband and jacket and get out of here.

"Hello Hinata-chan." Said Naruto, standing directly behind her topless.

…Or so she had thought. Poof! Was heard from Naruto's room as the bunshin released itself.

"Gomen!! Gomen gomen gomen!!" Hinata began to say over and over again, trying to apologize as the blond looked at her with a peculiar look on his face.

"Gomen ne sai! Please Naruto, I'm truly sorry! I came to see how you were because you had disappeared and so I followed you home and you"

Naruto released the kiss he had given her, and smiled into her silvery pearl eyes, which was his way of telling her it was alright. Hinata looked back up at him, and tears came to her eyes.

"Where" sniff "were you? What happened?" She sniffed again. "I saw your cuts and bruises so don't even think about telling me you were fine!" She yelled a bit, and then recoiled back from him against the door, as more tears streamed down her cheeks.

"I went to help Shikamaru and Kakashi…" He began, his eyes averting away from her silver gaze. "They were going up against two members of the Akatsuki… Shikamaru killed one and I killed the other. BUT! I used my new Jutsu! I can't hold it for a long time, but if I"

A slap cut him off, and Hinata was still crying. "Don't you ever scare me like that again!" She yelped, then grasping him tightly around the waist. "You may be my hero, but don't worry me like that, I worried enough about you when you were away with that perverted old man, I don't need any more of it." She said, grasping him harder then before, her tears streaming down his bare chest.

Two arms wrapped around Hinata's waist, and pulled her upwards into a kiss. "Gomen Hinata-chan, gomen ne sai…" Naruto said, Hinata getting lost in his clear blue eyes. Hinata slid her hand from around his waist to her own back, and opened the door, all while kissing him. The door slowly creaked open, and they backed into the room. They backed up to the point where Hinata fell onto the bed, and pulled Naruto down on top of her. For a few minutes, they rolled around on the bed just holding and kissing each other, nothing really serious, and then Naruto slid his hand up, and cupped her breast lightly. Hinata was startled to say the least. It was one of her fantasies coming true, and she turned red immediately.

Naruto noticed and moved his hand away, saying, "Gomen ne" yet being cut off as Hinata's index finger rested on his lips, shushing him. She lightly grabbed his hand and replaced it under her breast, and kissed him again. By this time it was dark out, and the half moon was shining in through the window, bathing her silhouette in moonlight.

As Naruto backed off from kissing her, he followed the curve of her stomach all the way up to her breasts, and then followed her neck to her gentle face. He smiled at her, until he saw something behind Hinata on the next building outside. Naruto was startled, and he sat up, and then rushed to the window.

"It can't be…" He thought, and then as the pink streak sped off, tears falling down her cheeks, Naruto turned to Hinata, kissed her and said, "I have to go, Ill be back." The fox boy didn't even bother to grab a shirt, and ran out the door.

"Naru..to?" Hinata said, sitting there confused… and disappointed.


	11. Things are changing

The fox boy continued running, chasing after what he believed was Sakura. Things continued to run through his mind, mostly centering around confusion and surprise. Eventually, Naruto caught up with the nin, who had stopped running, and had decided to collapse to her knees. He had let herself fall right in the spot where Hinata had pulled him from the lake, which Naruto found odd.

"Sakura...? Is that you?" Naruto said, approaching the girl.

"Go away Naruto..." Said Sakura, sobbing. "Just go back to Hinata, shes waiting for you." She said coldly, adding to Naruto's confusion.

"Not until I find out whats wrong with you." he said, still oblivious as ever.

"JUST GO!" she bellowed, turning her head to yell at him. Her green eyes had tears streaming from them, many tears.

"Sakura... chan?" Naruto said, taken aback by her anger. He then regained his ground, and did something that he had never even dreamed of doing before, something that even scared the pearl eyed girl who had followed, he snapped. "Listen to me you bitch! I've had it with you never telling me things. I used to have feelings for you, but you kept shooting me down. I never understand you. Why the hell you care about me at all is beyond me, but I'm here because I want to help you, not because I want to be with you, but because I care about you as a teammate, as a comrade... as a friend. Spit on it if you want to, but I want to help you because I care. Ever since Sasuke left you've been different, and I just cant take it anymore. Now if you don't want to tell me whats wrong, then fine, don't, but don't come crying to me later about it!" Screamed the boy, turning around. He then proceeded to walk away, until he heard something.

"I don't tell you things for the sole reason that I can't, you insensitive jerk. I want to tell you, but I can't. I'm constantly afraid of what might happen, and terrified of what won't. You want the truth? The truth is that I LOVE YOU! I don't know when it happened, or even why, I just know that it is, OK!?" She screamed at the boy, standing up, tears flowing down her cheeks.

Naruto turned, and before he could even say anything, Sakura had already pressed her lips against his, and wasn't planning on letting go.

Nearby, some leaves rustled, and footsteps began to fade away. Sakura continued the kiss, and opened her eyes, only to be looking into the blood red eyes of a demon. She backed off a bit, and then pushed herself off of him.

"Don't EVER, and I mean EVER, do that again!!" Naruto bellowed, red chakra seeping from his body and rising off of him. He then turned and ran after the footsteps, knowing full well who they belonged to.

"What have I done..." Sakura whispered to herself, regretting what she had just done.


	12. Removal

"Kage Mane no Jutsu!" Said a voice from nearby, a shadow reaching out and gripping onto Sakura's own, freezing her.

"Neji, what is your problem?" Shikamaru asked, standing from the bushes.

Neji released his henge, and returned to his own appearance. "It is a mission, I must separate Naruto and Hinata, I don't want to, but I also don't have a choice." He said, frozen in place. "Her father doesn't want her around the Kyuubi, he is trying to protect her."

"Why did you choose Sakura anyway? Doesn't Naruto know she is with Lee right now, like almost every other night she has been with him?" Shikamaru stated, confused.

"You know Naruto, he is oblivious. I'm lucky he didn't catch the fact that I had transformed with long hair." he said, laughing. "He can't even remember that Sakura's hair has been short since the Chuunin exams. My mission is done, the rest is up to Ibiki."

"Don't tell me..."

"I told you, I didn't have a choice. Kiba, go get Hinata. Shikamaru, you should probably go and get Naruto, before Ibiki wipes his memory clean of this." Neji said.

I confused Kiba popped his head out from behind a tree, up on the top of the waterfall. "Just exactly how far did he increase his field of vision!?" Kiba said, Akamaru barking in agreement.

Shikamaru released the Kage Mane. "Thank you, Neji" Shikamaru said, and then ran off.

Kiba did the same, and caught up with Shikamaru. "Where should I take her?" Kiba asked.

"As much as I don't want to do this... Take them to my house. Naruto and Hinata are going to be separated, and we can't stop that, but we can give them some time together, alone." He said, his right eye twitching a bit.

"Dude... thats just... I'm not going to even... I'll see you at your house..." Kiba said, speeding off.

"I'm probably going to need to change my sheets after this..." Shikamaru said to the air, and he chased after Naruto.


End file.
